Monthly Archives: April 2013

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) –” Federal wildlife officials have drafted plans to lift protections for gray wolves across the Lower 48 states, a move that could end a decades-long recovery effort that has restored the animals but only in parts of their historic range.

Image Credit: WIKI

The draft U.S. Department of Interior rule obtained by The Associated Press contends the roughly 6,000 wolves now living in the Northern Rockies and Great Lakes are enough to prevent the species’ extinction. The agency says having gray wolves elsewhere — such as the West Coast, parts of New England and elsewhere in the Rockies — is unnecessary for their long-term survival.” Associated Press

Only a small population of Mexican wolves-a subspecies of the gray wolf ,would continue to receive federal protection in the Southwest.

If the rule is enacted, all control of wolves would be transferred to state wildlife agencies, thus removing them from the endangered list.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently released data showing wolf numbers dropped 7 percent last year in the face of newly-expanded hunting and trapping seasons in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. That’s the most significant decrease since they were reintroduced in the mid-1990s.” Associated Press

The federal government spent $102 million on gray wolf recovery programs and state agencies chipped in $15.6 million from 1991 and 2011. Federal spending likely would drop if the proposal to lift gray wolf protection passes.

According to a new study, it may be slightly later than expected.Spring means the start of the tick season, both for pet parents and their pooches.A new study by Georg Duscher and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna has shown how much more likely it is for pets to pick up ticks when the temperatures go up.

Georg Duscher and colleagues analysed data for 700 ticks found on 90 dogs, that were frequently walked in a particular area in eastern Austria.Of all the three species of ticks most often found,the most common one-Ixodes Ricinus, mostly infected dogs in April and May, although a second peak in infection occurred in September,Dermacentor Reticulatus was largely found during the months of March/April, with much lower numbers in October.Meanwhile Haemaphysalis Concinna seemed to favor the summer months-June/July.

So although the species of tick that your furry friends are most likely to encounter will vary according to the season, dog parents need to pay special attention to the possibility of ticks throughout the year, most especially from March through November.

The scientists also discovered that the number of ticks per day on animals treated with an acaricide, either alone or together with a repellent, was not significantly lower than untreated animals.Disturbingly, the ticks in question are capable of major tick-borne diseases.

Dogs in central Europe are at risk of four granulocytic anaplasmosis:

canine babesiosis

canine granulocytic anaplasmosis

canine borreliosis

tick-borne encephalitis

Michael Leschnik of the Vetmeduni Vienna’s Small Animal Clinic was able to show that over half of the 90 dogs in the study had become infected with one or more of the pathogens during the study period. He found that the chance of being infected did not seem to be reduced by the use of an acaricide, either alone or with a repellent.He also thought that the poor performance of the acaricide may be due to pet parents only applying the spot-on drugs after finding the ticks and that they did not use the drugs often enough.” The efficiency is much higher under laboratory conditions, so we should try to raise the owners’ awareness of how to apply the products correctly,” says Leschnik.

Duscher also found that the ticks preferred to be on the heads, shoulders and chests of dogs .”their body shape makes it difficult for them to crawl through dense fur, so ticks probably attach close to where they arrive rather than risking being knocked off by vegetation,” says Duscher.

The Blue Heeler came about when Australiancattle ranchers needed a cattle drover with endurance that could go long distances.The Blue Heeler’s direct ancestor was the Hall’s Heeler, a canine that was developed from a cross of the dingo and the smooth-coated Scottish Collie.In 1860, the Hall’s Heeler was mixed with the Australian Kelpie and the Dalmation to create the modern Australian Cattle Dog.

Paul Krebaum discovered possibly the best solution for eliminating odor on dogs who have been skunked.

Image Credit: Wiki

Take 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of liquid hand soap. Mix and immediately apply to the stinky pet. Then rinse thoroughly with tap water. For large canines, such as a Labrador or Mastiff, you may need to double the recipe to improve coverage. Keep the mix out of sensitive areas like the eyes and ears. Also, don’t allow your dog to ingest the mixture, because it can be dangerous and cause vomiting.

Keep all the ingredients on hand at home and don’t mix them until you have that incredibly skunky situation.

“One rhino expert, Richard Emslie, sees the tipping point coming in 2015 under current trends. South Africa’s environment ministry forecasts from 2016, and once that happens, wild rhinos could be wiped out in the country a decade after that.” via Yahoo News

“The rate of poaching continues to rise and we are getting ever closer to that dangerous tipping point,” said Jo Shaw, the rhino coordinator for the global conservation agency World Wildlife Fund (WWF”).Via Yahoo News

South Africa and Mozambique started knocking down sections of the border fences in Kruger about a decade ago to give animals more area to roam. There are voices in South Africa now calling for it to be rebuilt to protect the rhinos on its side.” via Yahoo news.

“To start, the vet harvests a few tablespoons of fatcells from the pet’s abdomen or shoulder, then spins the cells in a centrifuge to separate out the stem cells that are naturally present in fat. Next, the cells are mixed with special enzymes to “digest” any residual fat and connective tissue, and are then “activated” by mixing them with “plasma rich platelets” extracted from the animal’s blood cells. The mixture is stimulated under a LED light for 20 minutes or so to further concentrate the stem cells. Finally, the newly awakened cells are injected back into the damaged joint.” via Good Morning America

Jeremy Delk, MediVet’s chief executive officer, said that the therapy works because stem cells are the only cells in the body that have the ability to transform themselves into other types of specialized cells — such as cartilage — making them a potent tool for repairing damaged and deteriorating joints. There are 50 to 1,000 times more stem cells in the fat than bone marrow, a source that was more consistently used in animal – and human — stem cell therapy until the fat method started becoming more popular.

“As we age, humans and animals alike, our stem cells are starting to die off so we have fewer. What we are able to do with these techniques is isolate the cells in very large numbers, wake them up and put them back into the area that needs help,” he explained. via Good Morning America

Recent studies funded by the Health Foundation of more than 150 dogs found improvements in a dog’s mobility, joint health issues and joint stiffness.Some of these improvements were said to have been seen within a week, while others took not so long-90 days and required multiple injections.

This site focuses on the consumer needs of human’s best friend ,but plans on extending to all affordable pet supplies for cats,fish, reptiles and hamsters.

DugDug effectively points canine owners to the lowest cost products without the hassle of pop-ups and adverts.After a general search for “pet price comparison sites” turns up one rival, Petazon.com, DugDug.com seems much easier to navigate than Petazon.com.

DugDug is divided into simple categories:

Grooming

Pet Jerseys

Food & Treats

Dog Bowls

Petazon is organized by animal, merchant, brand, and/or item category.The exact same product-dog bowl will appear in Petazon’s search results many times, but on DugDug it only comes up once along with all the sites selling it.

Promo Codes:

Promo Codes also appear in DugDug search sites.Rover(optional browser tool) automatically notifies users when a coupon becomes available as they browse the listed vendor sites.

DugDug’s founder, David Keh is a proud pet parent to a standard poodle .He founded the site out of frustration with navigating traditional price comparison search engines.DugDug also adds value for pet parents, for example by screening for counterfeit and imported pet medications that lack FDA approval(and could be lethal for your furry best friend.)

DugDug does not sell products directly but maintains commission deals with many of the pet sites.Annual expenses for pet parents often and easily exceed $1,200 annually according to the American Pet Products Association.(APPA)